An organisation development intervention in a secondary school in the Erongo region of Namibia

Abstract

The challenge for Namibia is to translate Vision 2030 into realistic and implementable programmes and to develop and adopt a set of interventions which will raise the quality of education. The quality of education currently on offer varies from school to school and, indeed, from class to class (Namibia. MoE, 2006, p. 1). The National Standards and Performance Indicators (ETSIP, 2006) for schools in Namibia and the Education and Training Sector Improvement Programme (ETSIP), have been developed to address the quality of education across the country, and to make provision for school managers to be trained. Organisation Development is a planned change approach which focuses on the change processes of the organisation, by opening up communication, decreasing internal destructiveness – such as win-lose conflicts – and by increasing creativity in problem solving. It is based on the values and assumptions about people and their organisations. OD promotes interdependence and interconnectedness, involvement in problem solving and decision making. OD is a process for teaching people how to solve problems, take advantage of opportunities, and learn how to do better over time. OD was introduced to Evergreen Senior Secondary School in the form of a Survey Data Feedback (SDF) where data was collected, analysed and fed back to the participants. The case study involved 20 staff members made up of the principal, two head of departments and 17 teachers. Formal and focus-group interviews, as well as observation, were used to collect data. What was derived from the data was that the OD approach was something new to the participants, and served as an eye-opener. Further, it became evident from the data that participants had high hopes that OD would bring about immediate visible changes regarding the operation of their organisation. It is essential to remind participants that OD is a long-term change process, and not a “quick fix”.